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QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 6:25 pm
by numchuck
Hey All . I hope it's okay to ask this here . I may just have a malfunctioning camera . I've been using SharpCapPro for just over a year with my QHY183M ; and it has always worked well ; but last Friday night it would not download frames at it's usual pace . The status bar at the bottom of the main page was showing that my frames were downloading very slowly , sometimes taking more than a minute for a single 8 second exposure to show on the main screen . Yesterday I re-installed all the camera drivers and also got the very latest version of SharpCapPro ; but that has not helped . I tried 3 different cables and 2 different ports . In camera controls , I tried different USB traffic settings and frame rate limits . In SharpCap settings , I tried different memory settings . But nothing improved performance . Finally I plugged in my other camera , a QHY5III290 ; and it worked fine , loading one frame after another , just as soon as each capture was complete . Do you think something is just wrong with my main camera ? I literally lost 2/3 of my imaging time to this problem (it was really that slow) I hope that you all can help ; but I may just need a new QHY183M . What do you think ?

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:32 pm
by admin
Hi,

If at all possible I would test the 183 camera on another computer and also with different software. If it continues to malfunction in both of those circumstances then it may be that the camera has a problem. If you can get it to work nicely either a different computer or with different software then the cameras probably okay and it will take some more digging to track down the real cause of the problem.

Cheers, Robin

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 1:19 am
by numchuck
Robin , thanks for your help . I've only used SharpCapPro , so I'm not certain what other software I should try . Any recommendations ?

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:47 pm
by admin
For this sort of test I'd recommend using the software created by the camera manufacturer. I think that qhy make something called 'EZ planetary' or similar. Another option would be to install the Ascom platform and the qhy Ascom driver for your camera and see if that gives any better results (you can use the camera either in SharpCap or in another application like APT via the Ascom driver).

Cheers, Robin

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 7:35 pm
by numchuck
many thanks again , I'll try to make you proud .

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 1:41 am
by numchuck
I saw your discussion of issues with a QHY168 and you discussed a "negative frame count" shown in the bottom right status bar -- this negative frame count exactly describes my problem .

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:28 am
by numchuck
okay . . . I don't think my camera is broken . . . If I select the camera , as normal , from SharpCap's menu , as "QHY183M" under the QHY Cameras sub menu , then I still have the super slow negative frame count problem . . . but . . . if I select the camera as "QHYCCD-Cameras-Capture" under the ASCOM Cameras sub menu , then my frame rate seems more normal , probably taking only an extra two seconds to download and then begin another frame -- in other words -- the green frame status bar goes negative for only 2 seconds . I think , last month , when I got my new QHY5III290 , I somehow disturbed the drivers , or SDK , or . DLL files for my 183M . QHY's website has proven difficult for me to navigate . I am so sorry to be a bother ; but I'm still at a loss for knowing how to put everything right again .

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 5:53 pm
by admin
Hi,

Does your 183 camera give you a USB speed control in the control panel on the right-hand side? If it does then try adjusting that control and see if you can find a value that gives you better performance. Note that you will only see that control if you choose the option under the 'qhy cameras' heading in the cameras menu (if it is available at all – some cameras do not seem to allow it).

Cheers, Robin

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:07 pm
by numchuck
There are 2 things under "camera control" : frame rate limit and USB traffic . I adjusted both of these to all different settings ; but they didn't help . I wrote today to QHY . I've seen that others are having similar problems . I'm sure that with patience , everything can be made to work again . Thank you , Robin , for your help . Your advice to run with ASCOM was super helpful to narrowing down the true problems .

Re: QHY5III290 good . . .QHY183M bad

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 12:41 pm
by numchuck
progress report : last night I installed the very latest SharpCapPro . . . and . . . it worked ! ! ! My USB traffic had been set for 20 , for more than a year . Last month , when my frames began to hang , I tried every setting there was ; but nothing helped . But last night , the USB traffic setting was very effective , and repeatable . I ended up leaving it at 2 ; and my frame downloads were lightning fast . I still don't understand any of this -- maybe someday I can learn more -- but thank you , Robin , for all of your efforts . You rule !